On Thursday 30 April, the Vice-President of the European Commission, Teresa Ribera, and the President of the European Council, António Costa, welcomed the mayors of Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Rome to Brussels to discuss the housing crisis in the EU and identify short- and medium-term solutions.
The mayors presented the avenues identified by the ‘coalition of Mayors for Housing’, which brings together 15 cities, including Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Nicosia, Barcelona, Cologne, Bologna and Lyon.
“House prices have risen by more than 60% (in nominal terms) between 2013 and 2024, while building permits have decreased by more than 22% since 2021. These figures are impressive. The needs are pressing and we must join forces”, summarised the Vice-President.
“The next step is to prepare legislation on affordable housing and to work together to ensure that the necessary measures are in place to provide clear answers and tools to make solutions available in full respect of the principle of subsidiarity”, she said.
“We are mobilising EU instruments and a crucial debate will take place at the time of the next EU budget. Housing and investment deserve all the attention they can get”, added the Vice-President.
The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, felt that progress had nevertheless been made. “We now have a European housing plan and we are just a few weeks away from the adoption of legislation on affordable housing. At the same time, negotiations on the MFF are in full swing in the European Parliament. Now is the time to make a truly transformative impact on Europe’s housing crisis”.
The proposals put forward by the Alliance focus on six areas: areas in housing crisis, financing, governance, homelessness and vulnerable groups, speculation and short-term lettings.
For the mayor of Barcelona, “the proliferation of short-term rentals needs to be ensured and adapted to the appropriate level of governance. Regulation must go beyond simply regulating short-term rentals” and cities must play a leading role in the process.
“As mayors, we are saying that its repercussions go far beyond the housing market”, he added. “This problem also affects the responsibility of our cities, our safety and our social cohesion. In other words, the designation of a city as an area of housing pressure should justify and protect any regulation of short-term rentals in that city or for a given period. We have called for future legislation on affordable housing to embody this principle”.
The President of the European Council recalled that the European Council held an initial exchange of views on affordable housing in October. “The issue has since remained on top of the European Union agenda”.
“Affordable housing is vital for social cohesion and fairness. And the lack of it is at the core of people’s disillusionment with democratic institutions”, added the Portuguese.
António Costa added that although competences for affordable housing lie at national, regional and local level, it is important to consider how the European Union can complement and support those efforts in full respect of the principle of subsidiarity, given that mayors are on the front line of all of society’s ills. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)